At the moment I am stranded here in Thailand for a little winter holiday. The beach is quiet away though. Because of the heat I went as far north as possible and found a little paradise called Chiang Mai. It’s “colder” here and you have everything you need to hang out a bit. As I am back in the northern hemisphere I will have to wait a few weeks, to get the best time to start cycling into China and Central Asia. So the planning and preparing also needs to be done. A big thing will be, getting the visas while moving. But I will talk about that later on, once I know more about it.

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In total I will stay 3 months in Thailand. As I said a little paradise. I feel completely save here. Also no “getting robbed” stories from other travellers. Climate wise it’s the never ending summer, the food is good and the accommodations are affordable and nice. The roads are very good too. With a shoulder on the side for cyclists and scooters and the Thai drivers are not aggressive and aware of two wheelers. Everything is much cleaner and more organized then I expected it.

Like in Malaysia I was a bit afraid of dengue fever and malaria. The most important thing is to avoid getting bitten. In the evening I go long sleeved or use insect repellent and in the nights I always sleep behind a mosquito net. That usually will do and I keep my fingers crossed.

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In Bangkok I got company from friends at home. With dignity we celebrated the upcoming wedding of my friend Bernhard and Bangkok seemed somehow the right place for it. I also met other cyclists. Especially between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, they pretty much all take the same route. One afternoon I ran into Gerhard, a former business man from Germany and Renand a cyclist from France. We travelled together a few days and also met again to enjoy the famous Luang Prabang festival where the people send balloons in the air with best wishes for the future.

The sweet days in Chiang Mai will soon be over and cycling in the mountains of northern Laos and Vietnam lays ahead.